3 COCONUT HYDRATION PERKS FOR YOUR WORKOUT

The benefits of coconut water are perfect after my staple fitness routines of yoga and walk/run sessions, to avoid dehydration. 

To stay flexible, I occasionally still perform a few capoeira moves, and I love to dance by myself to music on the radio.

Nooo… I don’t sweat like football quarterback Ryan Tannehill during a workout.  I still make it a point, though, to stay hydrated with coconut water to avoid becoming even mildly dehydrated.

THREE Perks of Coconut Water hydration:

1.  Coconut water is dye-free.  There are NO artificial yellow, green, blue or red dyes that my digestive system and liver have to struggle to eliminate.

This is a huge hidden plus about coconut water.

Strong food dyes seriously diminish my feelings of well-being.

2.  Coco water is a workout for my savory taste buds.  I need water with electrolytes not more sugar to stay hydrated.

Even small losses of potassium, magnesium, chloride and bicarbonate salts can cause mental and physical torpidity, sluggishness or lethargy. 

There’s no added sugar or sweeteners in plain coconut water. 

3. Unflavored coconut water is still the best. My gut, pancreas, and liver don’t have to deal with derived flavorings.

 I eat a slice of mango or watermelon and guzzle (don’t sip) plain coconut water. Adding a lime slice to coconut water has a historical culinary tradition, worldwide. So I do that sometimes.

Flavored coconut water brands cost a little more too.  

Mild dehydration is more serious as you age. A shot glass of coconut water with electrolytes is the perfect, simple solution to prevent this condition. 

COCONUT COAST FRAGRANCE REVIEW- HAPPY FUN

Name: Coconut Coast by Details Bath and Body        

Rating:  3 out of 5 points

Where to Buy:  Walgreens Drug Stores                                                          

Type:  Moisturizing Body Mist

Use:  Day off from work, summer vacation

Fragrance Notes:  The top note is coconut, the mid note is vanilla, with cocoa butter and white musk base notes.

Price:  Less than $10

Impressions:  This body mist is subtle, pleasant, and actually smells coconutty.

It’s also a little “happy fun” beach smelling, maybe a touch hedonistic.  The vanilla and white musk are not stifling, the cocoa butter is sublime. 

Overall, this mist is suitable for days when it’s overkill to spritz on your more expensive fragrances like “Glow” by Jennifer Lopez.  And this mist does smell exactly like some other more luxuriant coconut fragrances that I use.

Unlike other low-priced body mists, Coconut Coast stands out because it doesn’t denature into an overbearing, fetid chemical smell after a few hours.

Also:  I only occasionally use Coconut Coast, when the mood hits me and I know I’m going no further than the mailbox.  Why?  This mist contains a preservative from the carbamate family of organic chemicals that’s just too serious. 

 I spray 1 light spritz over well-oiled skin on the back of my legs, and never on any other part of my body.

RECIPE WATCH: WHIPPED COCONUT CREAM

Coconut Whipped Cream from NuttyKitchen.com at http://nuttykitchen.com/2010/06/01/coconut-whipped-cream/
Whipped, Easy, Yummy! Enough said!

COCONUT CANDY, WHAT'S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE?

Here are my favorite coconut confections: Dreamy tasting and unforgettably satisfying.

NEAPOLITAN PINK, WHITE & BROWN COCONUT BAR Once sold by street vendors in Chicago’s Washington Park, it’s now mainstream. Manufactured for nearly a century, it’s now sold online and at vintage candy shops.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT STACKS, nearly the size of baseballs, once sold at Marshall Field's department store next to their trademark Frangos. Field’s chocolate flavor was the best tasting I have ever experienced.  The STACKS were sold until the 1990s.

The store is gone but not my memory of the flavor. Yummy!

TRINIDADS, from Fannie May candy maker, are chocolate cream covered with a yellow shell, infused with toasted coconut flakes.  It’s now sold online.

 The shape has been changed from a petite square confectionery to more bon bon looking.  It’s still good.

PINK COCONUT BON BONS from the Sears store candy counter (yes they used to have candy counters in their stores).

ALMOND JOY made by Hersey’s.  It’s still good after all these years, good quality milk chocolate covering a shredded moist coconut topped with an almond. Easy to get, it’s sold everywhere for a quick coco fix.

MOUNDS, also by Hersey’s, has got a slightly biting dark chocolate flavor over sweetened coconut.  Sometimes the coconut seems too sweet, but the dark chocolate never fails to satisfy me. Hmm...

OSKRI COCONUT ENERGY BARS, made in Wisconsin, are pure simple coconut with low sugar. Order online, because they are not to easy to find in stores at all. This bar tastes like pure cocos nucifera.

MALLO CUP by Boyer has some coconut flakes sprinkled in the creamy center.

PURE COCONUT I purchased while in Orlando: I have forgotten the real brand name.

I didn’t like the chocolate covering, it was bland with no real taste except for too much sugar.  So I peeled off all the chocolate covering the coconut. 

Interesting, the coconut itself was barely sweetened.  I liked it immediately, just the coconut flavor and texture with few other ingredients.

Tell me your favorite coconut sweet via email or comments.

COCONUT WATER PRICE SHOCKER

The temperature in Chicago  shot-up to 87 degrees recently one March day and I just had to get me some coconut water because I was so hot and sweaty. 

No other soft drink tops the refreshing liquid from inside the coconut palm tree’s endosperm or seed.

Well, what I got was price shock, instead. The price for the coconut hydration was 150% higher at the gas station food mart than at an online store.

Even Kevin Garnett would have to think twice about quenching his thirst with a price mark-up that high.

I usually stock-up on coconut water in late spring to avoid paying exorbitant prices during the summer.

3 Stock-up Options

• Online stores have the best per unit price, especially if you buy a case. Get low or free shipping charges to keep your savings.
• Grocery stores offer case savings to match online store prices, at least 1 store chain in Chicago does. And, there’s no delivery charge. Ask the manager at your local chain about discounts.
• Small ethnic grocery stores often sell coconut water for prices less than online stores. Visit a Thai or Pilipino store for brands from the owner’s country.

Chicago’s spring and summer weather varies from freezing in late May to killer heat waves in early July.  “Moderate temperatures” does not characterize Chicago’s weather.

 The temperatures got so hot so fast this March, I did not have a chance to stock-up.

COCONUT & THAT BOOK! DON’T BLAME...

Brazil’s fun, frolicky and not-so-secret sexual freedom, under the palms, is the scene setting of an expose` by Jewel Woods.  An eye opener for many women, like me, Woods’ book Don’t Blame It On Rio was a viral bestseller in 2008.

So what does the book have to do with coconut?  In a word “edge”. 

I wanted to discover and understand the cultural edge that Brazilian women seem to possess.  Indeed, it became apparent to me that women from various parts of the tropics and sub-tropics, not just Brazil, all possessed some sort of “edge” over American women especially in the beauty arena.

Women from Africa, the South Pacific and South Asia and other tropical spots seemed to also possess this magical edge.

“Uh-uh”, I began to think. Maybe I was imagining this mythical edge, because “women are the same everywhere”.

But coconut proved that I wasn’t imagining an advantage.

It is real.

A culture of coconut use is at least one connection that women from all over the tropical world have in common.

Until the last few years, most American women and women from other temperate zones did not have major consumer access to coconut products like coconut water and coconut oil. For American women the only major choices seem to be carbonated drinks, petroleum jelly, soybean oil, corn oil and other petro products.

Until the 2000s, there was only 1 brand of olive oil on grocery shelves for decades. Even today, there's are fewer brand varieties in stores.

Coconut cuisine, coconut healthcare, coconut skincare all add up to a cultural edge that informed women will have to get schooled about real soon. 

Woods’ expose` makes it very clear: The competition is fierce in the groves.

Read More:

Here’s a link about the global beauty force of coconut from writer Janet Grosshandler:

http://coconutwaterpurehealth.com/Coconut_Water_Skincare.html

COCONUT WATER JUST IS …

• Tastier guzzled or chugged:  You’ll get the best thirst-quenching effect. Don’t sip it like juice or a cocktail.
• Easier in a little crystal shot glass:  Just refrigerate the remainder to drink or use in a recipe.
• Best chilled!  No time for the fridge? Use a couple of ice cubes.  Really… it’s not illegal.
• Better with a small slice of lime: Or you can just add a couple drops of lime juice.
• Different by brand:  If you don’t like one, try another.  Buy 2 or 3 different brands to taste test over a week. Check online for more available brands.
• Coconut water is produced globally from Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines and everywhere in between the 26N and 26S latitudes.  Coco Water is like wine grapes and juice oranges, the taste is dependent on the locale’s growing conditions. Also, some brands are fresh, while others are reconstituted coconut water.
• Clear almost like plain water:  Don’t confuse it with coconut juice or coconut milk which are very, hmm… different tasting. Electrolytes and nutrients differ in these products.
• Cheaper without added flavors like mango:  That’s the best way to save money on a product that’s comparable in price to premium mineral water.
• Beneficial for the average man and woman:  Don’t be put off by celebrities like Rihanna.  

LIVE THE ORGANIC LIFE – 5 BABY STEPS WITH COCONUT OIL

With organic coconut oil, you will quickly see and feel a dramatic improvement in skincare results. Until full-strength coconut oil is stocked at your local grocer, get an easy start with the merits of these 5 types of personal products:

1.  Overnight Hand Treatments – Get stunningly improved skin that you will miss seeing when you don’t use coco oil at night.  Coco oil hand creams and lotions are not widely available so check for them at specialty cosmetics stores.

2.  Hair treatments – Coco blended hair care products are becoming more common at drugstores and high-end retail outlets.  Best use: Try a pre-shampoo oil treatment to soothe itchy, flaky scalp skin.

3.  Lip Balms – These balms prevent dehydrated lips by sealing in existing moisture. Usually there’s no color and only a soft  fragrance from essential oils to prevent irritated lips.

They are usually only stocked by health food stores.

4.  Foot Care Creams – These are still hard to find but you can substitute a coco oil hand cream. You will still get the blessings of smooth skin on your feet.

5.  Baby Care Products – Available at all major retail chain stores.  Try baby oil blended with coconut, without any mineral oil. Start your baby on an healthy organic lifestyle with coconut oil benefits. 

COCONUT OIL VS LOTIONS! ROUND 1!

TOP 10 REASONS

COCONUT OIL IS WINNING RESPECT

& DOLLARS FROM SKINCARE CONSUMERS

Here's why coconut oil will eventually make it to a store near you:

1. It's eatable  and can be used for cooking-lotions are inedible.
2. The soft relaxing fragrance of coconut oil is a real blessing and it is not artificial.
3. Mmm... coco smells better.
4. It adds a soft, non-greasy sheen to skin, especially in summer heat.
5. Pea size amounts of coconut oil are more effective than  dollops from lotion bottles.
6. Coconut oil is  a multi-purpose product, including:  cleanser,  moisturizer, conditioner (dogs & humans) and more.
7. There are no ashy, dry looking whiteners or cakey pink colorants, as in most lotions.
8. Coconut oil ingredients aren't listed in hazardous materials manuals.
9. There's only one ingredient on the jar label: Coconut oil.
10. Coconut oil has a history - It's been in the diets of millions of men and women in tropical latitudes for thousands of years.

Don't wait to use coconut oil, more and more consumers aren't waiting to buy the benefits. More coconut oil benefits will be published in upcoming reports.  USDA recent research is here, on page 5:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/oilseeds/circular/2011/April/oilseeds.pdf

COCONUT MILK DAYDREAMS

Coconut milk should taste good, actually, very good. That’s what my mind tells me. My taste buds yell ‘Yuck’.  Then my mind whispers ‘It’s so healthy and nutritious’.

After a glass or two, the coconut milk carton used to sit in the refrigerator untouched again for weeks.  (There are versions that don't need refrigeration.)

COCONUT CULINARY LEGACY

I wish that coconut milk could live-up to my memories of coconut cakes, brownies topped with coconut and pink coconut bon bons.  Those are memories of coconut mixed with 2 or 3 cups of sugar, a lot of white sugar.

That’s the culinary legacy of growing-up in a temperate, non-tropical part of the globe: dried-up, sweetened coconut instead of fresh copra.

I didn't grow-up drinking coconut water or cooking with coconut oil.

SIMPLE REFRESHING COCO MILK

So, until I can wean my taste buds off of sugared coconut, I have to take the path of least resistance to the benefits.  Leaving the rum for later, I simply mix a shot of pineapple juice with a glass of coconut milk and then drink my favorite memory of coconut:  Pina colada.

So now, I stock-up on coconut milk, at the drop of a hat, anytime I see it.

OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION

Coconut Research Center:  http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/